Fire education grants awarded to local municipalitiesDate: 1/18/2023 WESTERN MASS. – To properly teach the most vulnerable individuals – children and seniors – about fire safety, local municipal departments were awarded grant funding to enhance education opportunities.
On Jan. 3, the Baker-Polito administration announced that nearly $2 million would be distributed across 266 municipal fire departments – a new record for the Students Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) and Senior SAFE programs. The previous record was 253 communities in fiscal year 2018.
Every department that applied for a grant received funding.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, the average number of children who die in fires annually has dropped by nearly 80 percent since the S.A.F.E. program began in fiscal year 1996. Massachusetts also recently went nearly three years without losing a child to fire.
The Senior SAFE program launched in fiscal year 2014, funding fire safety education for seniors who are also at risk of dying in an at-home fire.
Monson
The Monson Fire Department received $3,781 for the SAFE grant and $2,077 for the Senior SAFE grant.
Captain Lisa Hamill explained, “This money is used for education and outreach for our most vulnerable residents, children and mature adults. Children receive fire prevention education in various settings including classroom, daycares and extracurriculars such as scout troops and story times. We do outreach and education through a variety of mediums including open conversations, workbooks and activities, interactive lessons and take-home information.”
She continued, “The grant pays for the supplies used and salaries of educators as well as paying to educate more employees in delivering public education lessons. Mature adults also receive fire prevention and emergency education through collaboration with the Council on Aging.” Here, they have been able to host monthly “Lunch & Learn” sessions where the topics discussed include demographic specific concerns such as home escape planning, preventing falls in the home and proper medication use, security and disposal.
Hamill added, “This year we are able to provide Deterra drug disposal bags to promote safe and easy disposal of home medications. Community risk reduction is our goal, and this grant is an important part of working toward that goal.”
She explained that she applied for the grant in November 2022 and received notification of the award in January.
“Without the SAFE and Senior SAFE grant, we would not be able to provide quality fire prevention education to the community,” said Hamill. “It is important that we reach school age children with this education so that they know how to protect themselves and their families from fire. Children are the best way to reach age groups we otherwise might not have contact with by them taking the information home to their families.”
She went on to say, “It is equally important to reach our mature adults with education especially since they may not have received it at a young age. Mature adults account for a large number of our medical contacts. It is important that we take these extra steps to prevent falls, injury and other situations that may take away their independence and ability to interact in the community. These grants give us the tools we need to keep our community safe, in more ways than one, through education and prevention.”
Hamill expressed gratitude for receiving this funding. Without it, she said they would not be able to continue the all-encompassing programs that they currently provide.
“Education is an integral piece of the fire prevention puzzle. We are thankful that the commonwealth provides us with the opportunity and funding to continue progressing toward our goal of having a fire safe community,” she added.
Monson Fire Chief Brian Harris shared that in recent years, the department has seen a decrease in fire related calls in town. “We feel that a strong fire prevention program in our community is to credit for that reduction. This program potentially saves lives and tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in fire losses.”
He went on to thank the commonwealth for providing the department with the opportunity to have this program, as well as the staff who takes the extra time to learn these skills and share the information with the community.
Ware
The Ware Fire Department received $3,781 for the SAFE grant and $2,077 for the Senior SAFE grant.
Fire Chief Jim Martinez explained that the grant will be used for public education for the schools and seniors in town.
He noted that both SAFE grants are applied for every year. Around the end of 2022, he said the department received notice that the grant was awarded once again.
Martinez went on to say that the grants are important for the department because “it allows us to do a certain amount of outreach.” This includes paying for the materials and supplies appropriate for assisting school age children and seniors.
As a SAFE instructor himself, Martinez said he is happy to continue to apply and receive this grant to help the people of Ware.
Warren
The Warren Fire Department received $3,781 for the SAFE grant and $2,077 for the Senior SAFE grant.
Fire Chief Adam Lavoie said the department applies for these grants quite often, as they become available each year.
“The grant provides money for people like me to get into schools and teach,” said Lavoie. In Warren, he shared that they specifically target the fourth graders to teach them about smoke detectors, carbon monoxide inhalation, home escapes, kitchen and cooking safety, among other safety related topics.
“The goal is that everyone has a home escape plan,” he explained.
While the Warren Fire Department visits all grades, Lavoie said the SAFE program itself is targeted for fourth graders because they are more developmentally capable of grasping the information. During fire prevention week, the department is more involved with the younger children such as preschool and kindergarten ages, telling them, “Firefighters are your friends,” said Lavoie.
With the Senior SAFE grant, Lavoie noted that they received it for the past couple of years and primarily use it for the Senior Center and various home demographics. Some of the topics they discuss with the seniors include fall hazards, proper medication dosage and the biggest one: cooking.
Lavoie said he feels “great” to have received these awards. “It’s something we rely on to deliver these certain classes.” Without it, he said the department’s budget could not buy the equipment needed to teach these programs.
“It’s a fantastic program,” said Lavoie. “Because of programs like this, people are being safer.”
He continued, “It’s important they [the grants] are here and I hope the state continues to offer this.”
Many times, when a tragedy happens, Lavoie said the person did not have working alarms to alert them of a fire. “The more we talk about this now, the safer it will be for generations down the road,” he added.
Other towns
A few neighboring towns were also awarded grant funding. For instance, Holland was awarded $2,881 for the SAFE grant and $1,777 for the Senior SAFE grant.
The Palmer Fire Department was awarded $1,891 for the SAFE grant and $1,105 for the Senior SAFE grant.
Lastly, Wales was awarded $2,881 for the SAFE grant and $1,777 for the Senior SAFE grant.
Reminder Publishing reached out to the Holland, Palmer and Wales Fire departments for comment but did not hear back as of press time.
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